


re-emergence

by oonaseckar



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, submergence
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Disability, Disabled Character, Diving, F/M, Gen, M/M, Physical Disability, Scuba Diving, Wheelchairs, marine biologist Charles Xavier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22860889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oonaseckar/pseuds/oonaseckar
Summary: A Submergence world.  Charles is a marine biologist planning on an expedition.  He takes on Erik as a diver and engineer, requiring extra divers after an accident that put him in a wheelchair.  Thirty-something Charles, twenty-something Erik.It's a powered world.  Erik will find his metal-bending useful, as a diving engineer.And Charles is planning the expedition, because there's something deep, oh how very down deep, in the most unknown depths of the ocean.And it's talking to him.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. we are such inward secret creatures

**Author's Note:**

> Submergence, what a terrible dreary plodding suckass fillum. Très serieusement, it's sucko, Bucko! I thought Wim Wenders was supposed to be some kind of enigmatic Germanic wunderkind? Not on this showing, bud.
> 
> But it's an interesting frame for a story.
> 
> Chapter title from Iris Murdoch's 'The Sea, The Sea'.
> 
> The thing what is yakking to Charles is not the Kraken, okay?

"And what exactly interests you about this opportunity, Mr Lehnsherr?"

Professor Xavier leaned back in his wheelchair, pushed his spectacles up his distinctively broken nose a little, and looked at Erik like he was a laboratory specimen. Not necessarily a prepossessing one, either.

 _Shit_. Cocking _hell_. Erik cursed his luck, and life in general. Of _course_ Xavier had been tipped off, just the same as all the rest. It wasn't as if the grapevine was even necessary -- it was all down in black and white, there on his academic record.

Still. Damned if he wasn't going to _try_. Damned if he was going to _give up._ Erik cleared his throat, and his voice was a bit wobbly. But it persisted, just like he did. "If you look at my application," he said, -- breathing from the stomach, like the anxiety counselor had taught him -- "you'll see I have extensive recreational experience of diving, photography, camerawork, editing student films, upkeep of diving equipment and maintaining company vehicles and vessels, as well as serving as a deck-hand on private yachts several summer breaks in a row." _Focus on the positive._ He could do this job with one hand tied behind his back, dammit.

Except that _both_ his hands were tied, of course. Very thoroughly, effectively hobbled, an ax to the calf of a runaway slave.


	2. little fish, big fish, swimming in the water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik's hiding something. So is Charles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is P.J. Harvey.

Xavier twiddled at his ear, where his dark chestnut hair was rather attractively growing out. "Oh, I wasn't questioning your suitability for the job," he said, rather absently. "Much the reverse. You're clearly over-qualified, for what amounts to a gopher job. Your education combined with your experience could normally land you a plum position, oceanography-related or otherwise. I assume, therefore, that the problem is your history with Professor Shaw."

Erik swallowed, and he could feel the silence _pulsate_. But over the dismay, and the flood of adrenalin that was making his heart pound, he felt what was becoming more and more familiar: rage.

"I didn't do it," he said, thickly.

Xavier was watching him, perfectly calm, smiling slightly. "Do what?" he asked.


	3. it's always our self we find in the sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hold down the cutlery, Erik's getting steamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is e.e. cummings.

The air he was breathing was burning his chest, combustible like his temper. " _Any_ of it," Erik said, emphatically. "The plagiarism allegations, the fights and harassment -- he paid that assistant _off_ \-- the grade-bumping for friends when I was his TA, and _especially_ not the sabotage to his laboratory, destroying the equipment. Although of course it was _perfect_ for him, only a metallokinetic could have managed certain parts of the damage, it was too complex, too delicate. I still don't know how he worked it but _I goddamn know he worked it_ \--"

He stopped, breathing harder. And knowing that he'd given too much away, that a victim must always modify and regulate his outward demeanour in order to appear rational, civilized, sympathetic. To hold himself to a higher standard than the aggressor. To be careful to seem the _right kind_ of victim, and not alienate potential friends and allies.

Much as his old Opa and Bubbeh had not been the _right kind_ of Jews, in nineteen-thirties Berlin: not deferential enough, not apologizing for their existence, not flattering and licking boots _half_ enough, to get themselves out of Hell.


	4. the louder he talked of his honor the faster we counted our spoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik lands the job. But something ain't right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Oh, I know _that_ , Lehnsherr," Xavier said, rather as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. As if _everyone_ knew that.

They didn't, though. Much the reverse. It put Erik on his heels for a minute, lost and thrown off the beat of the interchange. But after a hiccup of silence, he managed a simple, "What?" And then -- because Xavier's slight, enigmatic smile was infuriating, "What are you talking about?"

Xavier let him hang a moment: and then said, "Of course I know you're an honest chap, Lehnsherr. I wouldn't be offering you the job, otherwise."

And that, that took a moment to digest. Erik felt a flush burn across his face for a second -- but he certainly wasn't going to cry. It was only the briefest prickle of his eyes, just for a moment.


	5. little islands are all large prisons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's something behind this job offer. Erik's mind is working damnably slow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is Sir Richard Francis Burton.

Xavier eyed him, with a slight warmth in those astonishing eyes. And possibly amusement? Erik controlled himself, breathed deep.

He was a little giddy: it was a long time -- oh, how long -- since he'd had sudden, unexpected good news sprung on him. He breathed deep _again_.

Of course, it didn't _quite_ make sense, though. (Perhaps he'd acquired a surface patina -- suspicious, cynical. Who wouldn't, given this past eighteen months?)

And now he was breathing _carefully_. Feeling his way, step by step. "That's -- astonishing good news," he said. _Slow_. "I'm very grateful," he added. Because if it was legit, then he truly was And then -- because it had to be asked -- " _Why_ do you believe me?"

Because -- God knew -- nobody else did.

"Ah." Xavier put the tips of his fingers together, and considered Erik.


	6. an empire so brilliant, so glorious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now Erik knows what's up. It doesn't make him happy, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from David Cronenberg's 'Scanners'.

"You're a smart fellow, Lehnsherr. I'm increasingly sure you'll be a useful addition to the team." But that wasn't an answer. Erik knew it, and he was pretty sure Xavier did, too.

There was something reluctant, in the way that Xavier put a hand to his ear, again. This time he pushed back the overgrown locks of his hair.

He turned his head a little to the side, and there was nothing to see. But the gesture was immediately familiar, from innumerable public service announcements. And although Erik hadn't _known_ about Xavier -- clearly hadn't read the job paperwork closely enough, in his state of stress and anger -- he immediately understood.

It gave him gooseflesh: the idea of someone casually rifling through the contents of his mind, without consent. "You _scanned_ me," he said, rigid with the violation. It wasn't a question.


	7. by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A face-off, then. Xavier's a telepath. Erik can either be outraged, or employed. Not both.
> 
> Oh, it's junior-rodeo on!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Dracula, Bram Stoker.

"Not a habit of mine, I do assure you," Xavier responded, damnably calm. "Not at all a usual practice."

"Not a _legal_ one, either," Erik pointed out, and the steadiness of his voice belied the anger that pulsed through him. He found himself on his feet, without having willed it. But Xavier's expression, looking up at him, was completely undisturbed.

"Would you prefer I hadn't done it?" he inquired. Which would have been a ridiculous question, except that...

"I certainly wouldn't have offered you the job, not without absolute certainty that the allegations against you were unjustified fabrications," Xavier added. How very steady his eyes were, how very blue.

"It's still illegal," Erik said, helplessly. Because he was angry - and had an excellent job offer -- in fact he was furious -- and employed in his chosen specialty -- and --

"As are the many things which Professor Shaw has alleged having sufficient suspicion on the matter to get you blackballed by every top-flight university -- and yet, curiously, _not_ quite sufficient for either criminal proceedings, or a professional hearing. Odd, no? It scarcely suggests complete confidence in his case."


	8. we need the tonic of wildness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, let's make a debating-society show of it. Erik for President!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is Henry David Thoreau.

Erik felt his shoulders go down -- like a guard dog, when the intruder proves to be Auntie Mabel, doggie treats at the ready, training manual in hand. And yet he felt very strongly that he _ought_ still to be angry -- _was_ angry, just perhaps not quite enough. It must be argued out, though -- reason itself demanded that.

"You could have asked me -- you could have notified me in advance, though," he said. "You _should_ have."

"In point of law," Xavier agreed. "Not that a forewarned subject can't fool a telepath, just as study participants can train to beat a lie-detector test? I had to be sure. I'm not willing to associate with criminals professionally, no matter how able or qualified."

"And you think that I am?" Erik asked. He sat down suddenly and looked Xavier in the eye, on a level with him. Let him be fair in all things. He was right, after all.

"Oh, _touché_ ," Xavier said. He looked pleased, if anything. 


	9. my heart is always on the line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confirmation. It doesn't solve anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is M. Ward, Fuel For Fire. 
> 
> Electronic blockers - compulsory ones - block non-consensual telepathy in this world.

"Well, you must decide for yourself. See," he added, "now that the question's settled" -- reaching out across his desk, for a small box about the size of a ring box. But the device he took out of it was larger, of clinically sterile surgical steel, and clearly functional rather than decorative. 

A blocker. Xavier clipped it into the piercing in his upper ear whorl. "There you are," he added, and smiled at Erik. But a much tighter, colder smile, now, quite humorless. "Perfectly safe. Your mind is sacrosanct."

 _Stirred up,_ his mind in a ferment, Erik was -- he was stirred up. For good or ill, he didn't know. "I could still report you," he said. "You could do _time_ for that."

"I could indeed," Xavier agreed. None more suave -- was his blood specially chilled? "But doing it was the only means of establishing your innocence. To my own satisfaction," he added, quickly.


	10. consider the source

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Charles Xavier is a _very bad man._ On the other hand, he might be incredibly useful. To Erik.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from Sly Stallone, amongst others.

And he was, in point of fact, a little _too_ emphatic about that last phrase. It seemed to mean something -- in much the way that a villain announces his true nature by his many protestations of virtue. Who more venal than the self-proclaimed moral pattern-book, who more unscrupulous than the noble-profiled ethical exemplar? What grosser bully than the self-styled tender-hearted puppy-petter?

Erik puzzled it out in an instant -- an instant too long perhaps, but he really wasn't so very dim. It was only that his brain had been put under a great amount of stress, both in the mid- and short-term, and he wasn't quite on top form.

Still. He hadn't _quite_ ceased to be his mother's bright boy.

"You _could_ ," he said -- almost an accusation. "You could prove it. Prove that I'm innocent."


	11. down to the river, and into the river we dived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik's a little ahead of himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is Bruce Springsteen, 'The River'.

Erik could be _vindicated_. It was crystal clear. With Xavier's testimony, all of Shaw's malicious dishonest accusations, insinuations, outright character assassinations, they could all be thrown out of court...

Metaphorically speaking, of course. Most of Shaw's dirty work had been done via word of mouth, covert whispers in shadowy corners, hypothetical suppositions and the pointing out of carefully selected and pruned incontestable facts, that put Erik in the worst possible light: innocently leaving the listener to draw damning conclusions. With mostly only the results down in black and white, on Erik's permanent record: any incriminating paper trail kept to a minimum.

"Oh, don't be such a fool," Xavier said dryly. Erik had been _aux anges._ His face must have been full of it, the euphoria leaving him all up in the air, elated.

Xavier laughed, now, but not with much amusement. "Have you been living on Venus, or something, Lehnsherr? You know better than that."


	12. trying to communicate with someone who doesn't exist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PSA: beware those who can read your mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this world there are numerous and frequent public service announcements on the dangers of telepaths, and the rights of non-telepathic citizens against them.

"On what planet is a registered telepath accepted as an expert witness in any case, either in the courts of law or the court of public opinion, both?" Xavier pointed out.

Well. It was perfectly true: and Erik should have had more sense than to be carried away, even for a moment. He flushed now: with chagrin, not anger.

"Have you really _never_ seen one of those PSAs?" Xavier asked, one eyebrow raised incredulously.

"Of course I have," Erik muttered, his chest heaving. "I didn't think for a moment, that's all."

"' ** _You Have The Right To Ask!_** "" Xavier declaimed -- giving it a lot of sarcastic thespian projection, getting the meaning out to the cheap seats. "' _ **Lock and Block!**_ " Or," he said, in a more tired voice, "In other words, any old anyone, who knows me to be a telepath -- or even suspects it -- is entitled, in law, to demand to see that I'm wearing a blocker, in any public realm. Wearing it on a _strictly voluntary basis,_ of course -- after all, there's always the alternative of becoming a complete shut-in."


End file.
